WE GATHER SUNSTAR’S 1: 18
BACK TO THE FUTURE CARS
The 1980s was a good time for a good time— from what we remember, anyway—and movies like 1985’s Back to the Future were
a big part of that. Funny, lighthearted, occasionally
poignant, the film entertained the heck out of us while
providing food for existential thought: Was time travel truly
possible? Could the space/time
continuum be manipulated? Would we
ever know what, exactly, is inside Pop
Rocks candy?
;e first car from Sunstar’s
Back to the Future series was
this replica from the first movie,
replete with the metal hook
that caught the bolt of lightning
needed to send Marty McFly
(Michael J. Fox) back to the
future.
One thing we didn’t question
was our reaction to the cus-
tomized DeLorean DMC- 12
that took center stage in the
film; we loved it, on sight.
Talk about timing … when
BT TF debuted, the demise
of DeLorean Motors was still
fresh in everyone’s minds. So
was the creator of the car that bore
his name, John Z. DeLorean, who’d been
videotaped whilst trying to sell pop rocks of a
di;erent kind in an attempt to float the company
(he was later cleared). Most folks had never even seen
a DeLorean DMC- 12, yet here was one that had been
Holly-warped into a time-travel machine.
;e car (and the iconic movie poster image of lead
actor Michael J. Fox emerging from its gull-wing door)
was a home run. So was the movie. ;e DMC- 12 would
appear in the two sequels that followed (in 1989 and
1990), and would go through some fairly major, time-specific changes—four, in total—for its role in each. 1: 18
What a set. Just in time for
the movie’s 25th anniversary,
Sunstar’s Back to the Future
DeLoreans have realistic metal
finishes, detailed movie-specific
gadgets, and opening doors and
trunks. ;e best part is, they’re
all still available.
movie car collectors saw the writing on the wall when
Sunstar released a neatly finished stock ‘82 DeLorean
coupe; when they brought out the first BTTF car, then
the second, third and fourth, many folks had to have all
four... five if you counted the stocker.
Stretching between 1985, 1955, 2015, 1885 and back,
the timeline in the movies could be confusing, as can
be placing the chronology of the cars and the models.
For the first movie car (1985-1955), Sunstar ditched the
original DeLorean’s louvered rear window and hatch,
and added the required bits to recreate the time machine’s vital organs and externally run wire harnesses,
using some nicely pointed-up castings. Inside, the dash
got wired, and had extra gauges and panels installed …
and, of course, it also got a “Flux Capacitor” shoehorned
in between the seats. ;e second car, a flying DeLorean
(1985-2015) that appeared at the end of the first film,
came equipped with a revamped rear section, a “Mr.
Fusion” garbage disposal/nuclear generator—and a
trick little chassis-mounted lever that could pivot the
wheels down into flight position.
For the third car (1955-1885) which appeared in Back
to the Future III, Sunstar kept the Mr. Fusion rear section—then added a vacuum-tube era set of electronics
